7 Comments, 7 Threads

Of course, how many times have we heard people in the White House and in Congress demand that lenders open up the purse strings again so that we can get the economy back on track?

How much do you want to bet that part of the deal behind getting the money, was that they do exactly this?

I’m telling you, Paulson’s view of the whole mess is that of a gambler. They lost big, and now want to double down on a bad bet to break even again. They see the only solution to the bubble popping, is to reinflate the same bubble.

Now waitaminute here. They’re talking about changing things to make a SECURED loan with a score of 621, which is the bottom of the window for “average credit.” This is “returning to something approximating normal” not “letting people with BAD credit get loans.”

Actually, Nick, Paulson’s idea was $700 billion of obligations defined on three sheets of paper. Very simple, and he would run things. In other words, he was trying to avoid the boondoggle we’re looking at now.

But Pelosi torpedoed that proposal, and the Democrats got their omnibus bailout pork fund.

By the way, did anyone else notice just how GM qualified for TARP funds? They are now (or will be soon) a bank holding company!

Lovely. I don’t doubt bank holding companies have opportunities that normal businesses don’t, and that GM will waste no time exploiting that possibility.